2021 Black Squier Paranormal 54 J demo by Anthony (Empire Music).

I bought one of these in the sunburst. I knew I was going to do it anyway so I paid for them to instal Bartolini PU's. I'm curious about the neck shape. It's listed as a slim C, and I hope its the same shape as the Schecter J4 neck. I really loved the feel of that bass. Do you know anything about the 'slim C' on squires?

 

Hey Jon, I’m a Fender fan but I disregard their neck profile descriptions. IME they are probably one of the worst descriptors in the business. Anyway, I owned a Paranormal Jazz Bass and I found the neck is nice and fatter than a Fender Player Series Jazz. In fact, the Paranormal Jazz has probably the best neck profile of any Jazz Bass (or J style) I’ve owned. Definitely meatier than the Hwy 1 Jazz and even a Lakland Skyline 44-60.

IME Schecters tend to have neck profiles on the thin spectrum, so the Paranormal may have a meatier neck.

 

Thanks for that feedback @P Cheen. Thicker than the players series huh? What did you think about the fretwork and construction in general? I'm looking forward to having a J with a P body and hoping that it's 'bones' will be worth modding.

 

I love the quality on these new Chinese Squiers. I’m really impressed. It’s a bit on the heavy side though (mine was almost 10 lbs) but I didn’t mind. And then I recently got the Squier Affinity Jaguar H, also Chinese. Above-par fretwork and neck work in general.

The only thing I didn’t like was that my Paranormal Jazz doesn’t seem to have a Fender-spec neck pocket. I tried putting a Fender neck on and it was a touch too wide for the pocket. I’m unsure if they changed that with this second issue of the Paranormal, but I doubt it.

 

Intersting, this was a recent model? Which neck did you try ro put on? I thought you were saying that you really liked the stock neck profile...?

 

Yeah, I had the 2020 one in the transparent white finish (unsure of the official name). That was the “first run” and then they discontinued those first 2 finishes (the transparent white and the butterscotch) and released these 2 new ones, the sunburst/tort and the black/gold.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it was only for fun because I was bored one afternoon and had a Fender Player Series Precision Bass neck lying around from a previous project that did not materialize.
My observations and opinions about the Squiers still stand. If I had extra fun money right now I’d grab the black/gold one and put active EMGs in it.

 

Thanks, all that's encouraging. Funny, I put a Player Jazz neck on the Players P in my avatar. Sounds like you prefer a thicker neck in general...? I'm just doing a thing I do where I order bass because I like the specs... then spend the time before I get it learning about people's experience.

You've been really helpful, thanks.

 

That was back when I thought I preferred a Precision neck because my Lakland Skyline 44-60, Player Jazz, and Ibanez SR1100B were cramping up my fretting hand due to the necks being on the thinner side. Turns out I do much prefer Jazz necks, just fatter. That’s why I like the Paranormal Jazz and the Sterling SB14.